I took my BMW down the local Polish hand wash the other week. Left it with them for an hour and when I came back it was immaculate. Had been washed, tires and alloys treated, waxed, fully valeted, carpets washed and even got a complimentary air freshener. All for £10, which can't be much more than the cost of the products used.

Dad saw what a good job they'd made of it and took his XKR to be done as well. Mum's Range Rover (which has not been washed for over 18 months and is bordering on health-hazard) will be dropped in sometime this week. Eastern European car washes are the future!

*No, I don't suppose they use the "two bucket method". No, I don't care. Unless you go over it with a magnifying glass, you couldn't tell.*

(Original post by cRaig)
Panel wipe and rags? Polish car washes? I think a little bit of me just died inside..

You're having a laugh aren't you??? As long as it goes like the proverbial off a shovel, who cares what it looks like???

To be fair, I did give the GT a propper wash and polish a couple of weekends back. I really didn't want to though.
For some reason I allowed myself to be bullied into it. lol! No prizes for guessing by whom, though!

Honestly you've no idea how much I hate cleaning cars... I stank of polish for two days after doing the car. That's despite having three showers in 48 hours. AND washing my hands in petrol straight afterwards!!

(Original post by cRaig)
Panel wipe and rags? Polish car washes? I think a little bit of me just died inside..

same!

whoever started the thread- whatever you do, don't use washing up liquid. Buy some car shampoo and use that. (I recommend duragloss 901- google it)
Polish is for getting rid of swirls/scratches and brightens up paintwork. Its not the same as wax. Wax is a protective layer.

You can use household APC to strip wax or clean wheels/arches. I use daisy which is something like 79p from tescos.